WESTPORT — After misfiring on all of his shot attempts — free throws and field goals — through three quarters, Tommy Yeargin got hot when it counted.

Westport’s point guard scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats erased a six-point deficit with less than three minutes to play in a 56-50 Division 3 South Sectional boys’ basketball victory over Norton on Tuesday.

“I felt like there was a lid on the rim,” said Yeargin, “but I knew they would fall eventually.”

The win sets up a Thursday night matchup between the fourth-seeded Wildcats and fifth-seeded Rockland at 6:30 p.m. in Westport. Rockland defeated Dennis-Yarmouth 61-50 on Tuesday.

Both teams struggled early — Westport with its shooting, and Norton in the turnover department — as Westport held a 7-5 lead after the first quarter.

Norton turned the ball over seven times in the first eight minutes, while Westport made three of 14 attempts from the floor.

The visiting Lancers used a 15-2 run in the second quarter to grab their biggest lead of the night at 20-12, but Jacob Bailey scored seven of Westport’s nine points, including a near-halfcourt heave as the buzzer sounded to allow the Wildcats to take a 21-20 lead into the break.

“We had a lot of turnovers in the first half,” Norton coach Marc Liberatore said. “We were up 20-12, but then they had the 9-0 run to end the half. We hadn’t seen a zone defense in weeks and we weren’t attacking the seams. We settled for a lot of jump shots.”

Chad Willard opened the second half with a three-point play to build the Westport lead to 24-20, but a Norton 10-0 run, keyed by two Bret Murphy 3-pointers, gave the Lancers a 30-24 lead with 4:47 left in the quarter.

Murphy hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter and six for the game. He finished as the game’s high scorer with 19 points.

“Murphy carried us offensively,” Liberatore said.

Willard closed the quarter on a basket with three seconds remaining to cut Norton’s lead to 33-31 after three quarters.

Yeargin began the fourth with his first basket of the game and then made one of two free throws with 7:13 left to give Westport a 34-33 lead.

The Cats held the lead until a Zack Sicard basket with 5:06 left knotted the game at 40-40.

A Jason O’Neil 3-pointer with 2:52 to play gave the Lancers a 48-42 cushion, but Richie Hartnett ignited a 13-0 Westport run with a 3-pointer to help put the game away.

Hartnett buried the shot and Willard put back an offensive rebound after the Lancers turned the ball over.

Page 2 of 2 - Chris Silvia put Westport in the lead for good on a basket with 1:39 remaining.